Horizon beefs up its sales force as part of Duexis push

Horizon Pharmaceuticals announced in October that it has added 70 reps to its sales force as part of the Deerfield, Ill., company's push to promote both its RA drug Duexis and Rayos (prednisone). Horizon said in June that it would up its sales presence when it announced a co-promotion Duexis deal with Mallinckrodt. Chief Commercial Officer Todd Smith told MM&M the Horizon team will add Rayos to its toolkit in 2013.

The expansion is the first for the company, which got its first drug approval in 2011 and its second, for Rayos, in July 2012. Smith said the company has taken a unique approach to its sales force, offering them a financial incentive with “a more aggressive commission plan than a traditional pharmaceutical bonus structure and a really uncapped commission plan on first time prescription sales.” He added that the sell is coming less from tech—the force isn't toting tablets—but rather a practice of detailing not just the doctor, but also the entire office staff and pharmacies as well.

Horizon's CEO Timothy Walbert said in a statement that the Duexis co-promote—which included the beefing up of Mallinckrodt's rep numbers in August—has already paid off, with a 16% bump in Duexis prescriptions. Walbert said the combined Horizon and Mallinckrodt push “will allow us to broaden our reach for Duexis five-fold from 10,000 physicians who write 8% of NSAID prescriptions to 50,000 physicians who write more than 50% of NSAID prescriptions.”